Holiday Reflection

Merry Christmas! I hope this finds you well and enjoying the holiday season with your friends and family. Although it is sad to be away for the holidays, I am keeping myself active and busy with building relationships and experiencing life in Belize. Last week I went on a two day trip to the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Reserve and Jaguar Reserve after seven consecutive workdays of leading retreats in the schools. It was rejuvenating to get away from the sounds of punta music, pop shots (fire crackers), drumming, karaoke, and other sounds of PG. Life here in Punta Gorda has been full of changes, adjustments, frustrations and personal obstacles. Nevertheless all of these have brought meaning and excitement to my life.

My position as a Jesuit Volunteer, working at St. Peter Claver Parish, is one that entails wearing many hats, as I have numerous roles and aspects to my job. Hitting the ground running in September, I quickly began learning about what my presence here called for. Over the past three and a half months I have led staff retreats for all thirty primary schools in the district, led confirmation retreats for students ages 11-13, trained and organized the Altar servers, conducted a biweekly food distribution (currently undergoing transformation), attended numerous meetings, and many other odd jobs and errands.

The staff retreats have been a great opportunity to get to know the teachers from all the schools and mostly have them get to know me who I am. I have struggled with certain aspects of these retreats, especially since they are led by two white Americans, Fr. Dick and I. It is also challenging to really get to know the teachers and let my personality shine through, as I am wearing the hat of retreat coordinator and sitting right next to a priest. Many call me “Brother Bobby” and think that I am on track for the priesthood. I’ve had to clear this up on numerous occasions recently and correct people who call me “Father”. However, not only in Belize I am facing these questions. My roommate was talking to his friend from Holy Cross who said that when she was in Church processing towards the altar during communion, a priest in the congregation whispered to her that he needed Rufino’s email because he knows his roommates Grandmother (McSorley) and she wants him to talk about the priesthood to him. I love you Grandma! But as of now I don’t see the priesthood awaiting my future.

The confirmation retreats have varied so much as I go from the Maya villages, to St. Peter Claver school here in town, to the predominantly East Indian community just outside of town, or to the Garifuna village in the very south. The Maya village children are very shy and giggly, the town kids (a mix of Creole, Garifuna and Maya) are a challenge to settle down and keep on track, and the predominantly East Indian school children are somewhere in between. I really enjoy being with the children, but am unsure if they have any idea of what confirmation means in their life beyond going to church to worship God. I have tried to focus the retreats more on life skills and getting them to think about values, decisions and their future. There will be a second round of retreats during January and February leading up to 18 confirmations the week of March 2^nd and 7^th. I will need your thoughts and prayers to make it through that week.

The Food at the Door program provides 2 pounds of rice, beans, flour and powdered milk (approximately $8.50) to 55 families throughout the district. Every Wednesday and Saturday morning men, women and children wait outside the rectory door, the majority who’ve paid around $8 to come into town from the villages. The program was started after hurricane Iris and was intended to get people back on their feet. Now six years later many of the same people are still receiving and is intended to reach the people most at need in the district, who are elderly or single mothers without access to food. However, this is not always the case and there are people waiting to be on the list who do fit the categories while others on the list have working children and access to food. These among many other problems are why we are planning to reform the program by updating the list, not having children pick up food (although they are one of the reasons why I enjoy it), and attempting to decentralize distributions. However, changes are very slow to happen, but I am adamant about putting them into effect since I am the face of the program and do not think the program does justice. It is enjoyable to see the people each week and have the chance to speak English, Spanish and some of the Qe’qchi and Mopan Maya I know, as people come from all over the diverse Toledo district. Although I enjoy most of these mornings and am learning a lot about the challenges of food distribution, it creates a dependency and is not an empowering atmosphere.

At times I struggle with my roles here and feel a local person should be in my job instead. Working with religion in a third world country is a dilemma that I am faced with as a privileged white American male and am constantly thinking about how I am perceived and what the impacts of my presence are. Nevertheless, I am learning a lot from these struggles and dilemmas and they are helping me learn a lot about the cultures here and about especially about who I am and what I believe.

The biggest perk of the job is my motorcycle and the opportunities it allows me to be out in the villages and get to know people. I am trying to take in as much as I can from the people and issues going on in this region. Speaking with local people, organizations, other volunteers and anthropologists has motivated me to keep going and soak up as much as I can while I’m here. On Monday I stayed the night in Barranco, a traditional Garifuna (Carib Indian) village, which now has less that 100 people and only 5 jobs compared to a decade ago with over 600 people. Mother Nature kept my motorcycle and I there and allowed me a day and evening of conversation about the hardships and beauty they face everyday in life. A French Anthropologist living there, interested in religious rituals and synchronization between the Garifuna spirituality and Catholicism, motivated me to record as much as I can and focus on a few topics/ issues of interest while I’m here. Therefore in addition to my roles as a JVI, I am learning about and documenting as much as I can about the life that the people here experience. The three topics that I am focusing on are: 1.) oil drilling in village and National park land and the reactions/resistance by the people and environmental groups; 2.) gang culture (Bloods and Crypts) currently sweeping across many of the larger Maya villages in the district; 3.) and inter village conflict having to do with communal verse private land disputes and the fencing in of animals issue, especially pigs who cause the majority of the conflicts in the village as they tear up plantations eat human feces and pass on worms to children. Maybe one of those will be my research topics later in life. What waits around the bend is unknown and to me that is a pretty beautiful thing… “no true”?

I am constantly thinking about all the love and support I have from my family and friends and this fact keeps me going. I wish you a very Merry Christmas and enjoyable New Years and don’t do anything I wouldn’t!

Peace and love,

Bobby

Challenging Questions

I have been in Belize now for about 3 ½ months and finding myself at a challenging yet stable point in life. Amidst the beauty of Belize’s diverse natural beauty and cultural groups, my motorcycle riding privilege, and waking up to the sun rising over the sea, I am also funding many struggles and frustrations about life here as a foreign volunteer and the life here in general. I have found there to be a great reliance and expectance on foreign aid and foreign volunteerism by the people. Being a colony up till just over 25 years ago, being an English speaking country, and being a relatively safe country, it has been a perfect dumping ground for other countries, organizations, and volunteers to come on help out, or more so to dump some goods and money. It has made me question aid, donations, assistance and volunteering. If it creates a dependency and reliance by the people, allowing them to sit back and wait whenever something needs to be done, then maybe the form and support is the problem itself.

The most impacting experience I had was last Sunday when I was asked to speak on behalf of the Catholic School management at the opening of the computer lab in the largest Maya village in the Toledo district. This was an exciting event for the village although the situation surrounding this event made me very uncomfortable. The computers were donated by CHx Oil Corporation and the purpose of the donation was to demonstrate to the 5 most southern villages the kids of gifts they could receive if they allow and cooperate with the oil drilling in the villages. Surrounded by hundreds of Q’eqchi Mayas villagers and sitting at the head table were the five leaders of the villages where the most oil is known to be, the oil corporation representatives, and myself. I guess I knew this kind of bribery and exploitation took place, but never saw it first hand and surely never sat at the head table next to those taking advantage of the people and land, and who happened to be the only others who just happened to have the same color skin as me. (I write a more detailed reflection of this on an earlier entry)

As the days pass I learn and experience more and more that make my thoughts and opinions change. There are always two sides to the coin and you must see and consider both or else that ignorance. And I will never understand what goes on here. After two years of being here I will not be able to claim that I know and understand what life is like here and why things work the way they do. Grappling with these questions and thoughts have brought more meaning to my life here. At first I was searching for meaning and what this would lead me to, since teaching the Catholic to a group of Maya children in each school is sometimes hard to convince myself that this is the best thing I could be doing right now with my life and that it is inline with the way I view the world and how improvements and changes can come about.

Weekend in Jalacte and Guatemala

Last weekend I was out in Jalacte, a village right on the Guatemala – Belize border. I spent a couple nights there with the Peace Corps guy and we hiked over to Guatemala and spent the day there on Sunday. It was really interesting to see his life in a village without electricity and running water and also to see how life changes when you hike twenty minutes over a mountain and across a river to arrive in the neighboring Guatemalan village. We arrived in Santa Cruz, Guatemala around 6:15am and there was a lot going on in this small town even at that hour. The homes were different, there were stores, the Spanish music sounded in the bus, there were a lot of Spanish blooded people (in the village in Belize it is almost 100% Qe’qchi Maya). People have mustaches. Most pure blooded Mayas can’t grow much of a stash. The girls are friendly. The Belize girls are not very friendly. They come across as disinterested in foreign guys. But that’s fine with mean, makes life a little easier, as I’m not looking to get involved with any kind of relationship down here. On the other hand the Guatemalan girls stare you down and flash a cute smile and I have no problem staring right back at them. Welcome back to Latin American culture.

Along with two of the Peace Corps guys we spent a few hours in a small city, much larger than Punta Gorda. There was a typical Guatemalan market which we weaved in and out of and a bunch of stores with a lot more options than what you can buy in Belize. All I bought was a small sized machete with a leather case for it that cost me 65 Quetzales, less than $10.

Spending a couple nights out in a very remote village and crossing the border gave me a lot to think about it. How is the life different in the village in Guatemala than in Belize? Life in that part of Guatemala was centered around the cattle industry. Most peasants take care of the cattle or work on the ranches that are owned my a few rich elite. In Belize there is still land and the people can grow as much corn as they can manage to work. 90% of the money in Jalacte, Belize comes from selling corn in Guatemala. Even though people don’t have much in the village in Belize and there’s no electricity and running water, there’s still money. The villagers do not pay taxes besides when they shop in town yet they have a school with teachers that are funded by the government. The government doesn’t pay for much more than that. Money issues cause a lot of conflict in the villages, as people do not trust anyway who asks for money to do a project. They help with traditional tasks like building a thatch house, but they have a lack a trust in pooling together to building a school building if it is not completed with government money, which happens often.

Villages hear rumors about how once they got a Peace Corps a lot of projects started to happen. Once example is in a village called San Benito Poite where every family has a solar panel. Money for this was donated by the Italian government and labor was provided by the Cubans. It just so happened that there was a Peace Corps there at the time that may have helped with other projects, but did not make the solar panels happen. But word passes and villagers are all about bringing in a volunteer to be the power behind getting resources, writing a grant, or donating themselves. However, just as it’s not my role as a JVI to provide material goods, neither is it the Peace Corps. These are some of the challenges one faces. The expectations have been built up because of the flow of funds and resources by foreigners.

Oil Drilling in Belize National Park and Maya villages (click here)

The opening of the computer lab in San Pedro Colombia

Hundreds of Q’eqchi Mayas gathered around while music blared and the oil company representatives prepared to present their gifts and convincing words to the people and village leaders. Sunday November 4^th was the opening ceremony of the internet computer lab in San Pedro Colombia, the largest Maya village in the Toledo district of Belize. Located thirty minutes outside of Punta Gorda, the village is scattered with thatch homes, pigs and chickens running freely and is populated by Q’eqchi’ Mayas. Most of the elders of the villagers wore their traditional clothing, while a large number of the younger generation wore either red or blue clothing, representing the bloods and crypts gangs that have been sweeping across the Maya villages of southern Belize.

I was not only in attendance but sitting at the head table as I was to represent the Roman Catholic Schools management and speak on behalf of the local manager. Little did I know the corporation who donated the 38 brand new computers (about $53,000 US) is an oil company out of Denver Colorado called CHx. CHx is owned by the same couple who owns BNE (Belize Natural Energy) and both are foreigners.

CHx corporation and US Capital corporation have partnered up to drill oil in the Sarstoon Temash region of Belize, encompassing the 41, 898 acre Sarstoon Temash National Park and the five most southern villages in Belize. CHx chose San Pedro Columbia to pilot this computer project in order to demonstrate to the five Sarstoon Temash villages the benefits and possibilities that may come about if the oil drilling goes smoothly in their villages. The oil companies sent the message to the chairpersons of the village, ‘let us have our way with your land and you will be rewarded’.

Chairpersons from the five villages, a representative from the Ministry of Education, representatives from CHx Corporation, US Capital, USG (seismic testing corporation) and I sat front and center in chairs lined up next to a large PA system. This event began with the Belize’s national anthem, a prayer in Q’eqchi’ by the Catechist, and a welcoming from the primary school principal. I spoke on behalf of the district schools, thanking the oil company’s for their donation and each of the representatives spoke to the people on behalf of their corporation. They shared a bit about their company and encouraged the people to be on board. Mr. Alistair King of US Capital spoke with his Maya counterpart at his side who translated into Q’eqchi encouraging the Maya villagers not to believe all the negative press that they hear on the news and in the cities about oil companies. He shared that it was the oil companies that built the roads leading out to a few of the nearby villages and they are now investing in their children’s future with this computer program. Between each these presentations there was a cultural dance by the school children, lifting the mood and creating the perception that this day is a celebration and landmark event for the Maya culture.

After the hour and a half ceremony the oil companies were also generous enough the provide drinks and tamales to all the people in attendance. This ceremony seemed to run smoothly and just as the oil companies had planned it. It was a quick and organized ceremony giving the oil corporations a friendly and positive face to impress the village leaders from the Sarstoon Temash villages and convince them to allow the drilling.

What I saw and took part in was an upright exploitation of the Maya people and bribery of the chairpersons from the villages that live, grow crops, wash clothes, and survive and the land that will soon be torn up providing millions to the foreign oil companies. Royalties will be allocated to the government of Belize, to the environmental organizations and computer labs are projected to be opened in the villages by next school year. My disgust for what I saw today was especially strong because of my participation in the event in which I had to sit next to the CHx Representative and stand up in front of the Maya villagers, many of whom I am helping with retreats and confirmation programs, and thank these oil companies for their generosity since I was the only other non Maya or Belizeans in attendance. I felt like I was the only person in this crowd of hundreds who was screaming on the inside because I knew that the oil companies will be taking millions and hurting the land and leaving the local people with little. The drilling in southern Belize will provide short term jobs that are much needed in the Toledo district which is starving for jobs. However these jobs are not sustainable and will take most people away from the cultivation of their plantation and other projects for their village. I have heard about and studied a great deal about exploitation of indigenous and marginalized people, but today was the first time I saw it first hand as I sat shoulder to shoulder the oil company representatives who so slyly and effectively dropped in to the Toledo district, gave some presents and went out their way. Drilling is supposed to begin within the next few weeks.

Thoughts on September

9/10/07

St. Georges Caye Day

Today’s festivities began the many September celebrations in Belize. St. Georges Caye was the location of the battle in 1798 which the British defeated Spanish, making Belize a British colony and English speaking country. This weekend there have been many festivities and parades that will carry on throughout the month. Independence Day is September 21 celebrating Belize’s independence from the British that finally came about in 1981.

I have begun enjoying some of the fruits that Belize has to offer. Yes the mangos, star fruit, bananas but most notably, the fruits of the land. Last Friday I did my first village hike to the furthest village in the district. Along with a priest from Germany, I drove two hours west towards the Belize/ Guatemala border and then hiked two hours through “da bush”. Being in the rainy season and days after the hurricane, the trail was slippery, muddy, and flooded. Regardless I was loving every minute of it. Finally doing the village hikes that I had heard about and anticipated and going where no car has ever gone before. I especially appreciated having time to think about life here, what I was experiencing, and all my loved ones back home. I am very grateful all the time that my job will allow me to be alone and think, as I continue village hikes and motorcycle rides throughout the district. “Unless you’re fond of hollering you don’t make great conversations on a running cycle. Instead you spend your time being aware of things and meditating on them. On sights and sounds, on the mood of the weather and things remembered, on the machine and the countryside you’re in, thinking about things at great leisure and length without being hurried and without being hurried and without feeling you’re losing time” - Robert Pirsig.

Having the opportunity to really contemplate and reflect on the days events and what I am doing here has been so important so far and will hopefully keep me going over the two years. However, it is also difficult to calm the mind and be in the present moment when we reflect on the past and dream about the future. I am trying to be here as much as I can without anticipating what the next day, month or year will bring. My idealistic mind is sometimes difficult to settle, but if I can’t enjoy the time I have here, when will I ever be content in life?

Anyway, I have really appreciated hearing from some of you and hearing both updates in your life and your encouraging and sometimes, challenging words. Although I may not respond to you individually as much I would like, I do enjoy hearing from you and I hope to keep monthly updates going.

I hope everyone is experiencing joy and love in their lives and “spreading the good vibes” to all those around you.

My work and the Education system in Belize

Before you read this: The following reflection is thoughts of mine that have developed over the past few days and weeks from some of the facts I have learned and what I have seen. By no means is what I have said a complete reality of the situation, but instead some preliminary questions I have posed as I begin my work here. If you read all this and have any thoughts or comments, I would appreciate it.

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Working alongside the Director of Catholic Schools (strongest schools) in the Toledo district, I have become exposed to some of the realities of education in this country, which is actually much stronger than most of its neighboring countries. The amount of teachers and whether or not they have a principal is contingent on the number of students in the school. In order to have a principal, other than a principal-teacher, the school must have at least 225 students. There is about a 25:1 teacher to student ratio. The number of students in the school decides how teachers the government of Belize will pay in that school. 100 students would pay four teachers. Since many levels do not have many students they are clustered together with other levels. There are often three grade levels together with one teacher. I can only imagine how it is for an eleven year old to be in a class with a bunch of eight year olds.

So why aren’t schools clustered with other villages, giving each grade enough students for their own teacher? Politicians have proposed ideas like this, but the villages refused. The villagers feel that in order to be a credible village they need a school. Belize revolves around school and children. I guess that is because over 50% of the population is under the age of twenty.

This village pride and credibility is a challenge I will be faced with in working with church services and especially the sacraments. There are only three Catholic priests in the Toledo district and there are thirty primary Catholic schools. They obviously can’t get to every village each weekend. For confirmation and other sacraments there have been strong uprises when the bishop cannot visit every village to celebrate the sacrament. Villages have been known to refuse going to go to other villages and instead have their children wait out the sacrament till the following year in hopes that the bishop will come. This is an issue I will surely find myself in.

The school system in Belize requires students to attend school through Standard Six of primary school, which is till about 12 or 13 years old. After that, to attend one of the two high schools in the Toledo district, you must score over 50% on your entrance exam and pay $400 per year for text books. Therefore, many of the villages have a small amount of students attending high school, in some cases only one! Due to the costs of school, the entrance exam, the 2-3 hour commute each day, and/or other reasons, most people in the villages are not educated beyond primary school, again around 12 to 13 years old. The rest work on the farm, help sustain their family, or get married and have children at ages as young as 14 and 15 years old.

Many who do go on to high school are influenced heavily by western values and material obsessions. One extreme example is the gangs, Bloods and Crypts, who have become prevalent in one of the largest Maya villages, San Antonio. In Belize City, The National Guard has been called because the head of one of the gangs was shot and killed yesterday and they are expecting retaliation.

So the students receiving an education are being influenced to get themselves out and learn how to survive in the ever increasing cosmopolitan world. Many though are being infiltrated by some of the most negatives aspect of mainstream American pop culture. Laving their village increases exposure to other ways of life and influences many to adopt new ideas and icons. Trying to compensate between surviving in the mainstream culture and maintaining village and family values is very daunting for young people today. Not being able to adapt back to the traditional village life and accept the poverty, in comparison to the towns and cities, numerous issues and struggles have evolved.

Education is increasing throughout the district, teachers are improving, curriculum's are being enhanced, and students are excelling. However jobs remain few and far between. There are a larger number of young, educated people without structures in place to employ them and who do not want to work a demanding life of manual labor on the farm just to feed their families.

What is it these people need in a time of exponential depletion of the culture and traditional values? What is education doing to and for them? Is education just westernizing the children in the villages and trying to motivate them to make it to the next level and leave their villages? Then most find out that they can’t pass the test, can’t pay the $400 for books or need to stay home to help their parents. Is educating the children in Maya villages an enculturation into western society? Maybe but I believe that education is empowerment.

What business do I have being here and especially directing religious programs in their villages? For now I am here to listen and learn to what they feel is important to maintain their ways and live a decent lifestyle. As traditions and rituals are very important in the Maya culture, the Catholic sacraments are also very important for their children to complete, which I will be assisting in the preparation of. As I begin riding my motorcycle to the villages and staying overnight, I hope to experience the love and happiness that God has blessed these people with. I do not know where this will lead me and to what degree I will effect the people I work with. But being there, I hope to be a model and inspiration to the people, as I’m sure they will be for me, as we all work to make a more just life for the people in Belize.

Thoughts as I shopped at the market

This morning I woke up before 7am to go to the market, which is about a two minute walk down Front Street, the street my house is on which runs along the bay. As I was about to walk out my door to the market two Maya girls appeared at my side door selling yellow plantains - three for a Belize dollar or 50 US cents. It was the first time I have seen anyone try to sell something at my door and since I have not eaten one plantain since I’ve been here, it was kind of a coincidence. So I guess plantains it would be tonight for dinner. They turned out quite tasty!

As I walked the stretch of vendors, surveying the options that I needed to complete my black bean salad and fried plantains, I saw the Peace Corps volunteer who I met the day prior in one of the villages. He was showing off his Ke’kchi language skills to the Maya vendors which he had acquired from the six week language immersion program the Peace Corps volunteers received in the countries capital, Belmopan, as part of their orientation. That would have been good to have this language immersion but since I will be working in both Ke’kchi and Mopan Maya villages, which are totally different languages, and Creole being spoken throughout the country and especially in Punta Gorda it does not make much sense to dive into just one language. So I am dabbling with all three of these languages, while trying to maintain and progress my Spanish skills.

I shopped around, asking some prices and checking out the quality of the veggies. I ended up buying a two lb bag of black beans, onions, tomatoes, green peppers, an avocado, and a cucumber. Rob, the Peace Corps volunteer, walked alongside me and shared with me how envious he was that I live a stones throw away from the market. He has to wake up at 3 am to get the bus into town. I asked him the time of day and was relieved to find out I had about an hour till 8:30, when I try to be at the rectory for work. I invited him back to my house for a cup of coffee and some fresh banana bread my roommate Susannah back the day before.

He was in awe of my rustic-paint less-crooked- wooden house, our book collection, and of course by beloved peanut butter (I have come to appreciate peanut butter more than anything else, seriously). Rob is living with a Maya family in one of the villages where I will be visiting and working with the school. He shared his struggles and nervousness that he has unexpectedly been faced with over the past week of living in a remote village still in search of his purpose and objective there. He is living with a family in a thatch hut with no electricity and he has no clear cut job beyond trying to improve health awareness in the village, a task that would be asking them to change many of their cultural practices. For example one health issue, from the western perspective, is the food preparation. Yeah it’s probably unsanitary to have chickens and pigs running through the same place where you cook and eat, but that’s how its done and has been done long before any white man reached this continent.

Talking to Rob about his setup really made me appreciate my program. At times I wish I was living with local people and not with three other Americans. However, living in community here allows me to let me guard down at the end of the day and reflect with the other volunteers who have faced very different yet connected experiences and struggles throughout the day. Although I’m sure I’ll face obstacles and struggles throughout my time here, I’m very positive and excited about my setup here and what these two years will hold for me.

On my way to work I saw another Peace Corps middle age fellow who is doing it with his wife. Well not doing it with his wife, but volunteering with Peace Corps along with his wife. I guess it’s quite common for married couple to do Peace Corps together. He’s a counselor in a few of the schools and his wife is teaching. Doing Peace Corps wife your spouse seems like a pretty awesome thing to do.

First motorcycle ride

On Friday I got out on my motorcycle for the first time. We had to take it into the mechanic to get tuned up but after that it was good to go. Jerking the throttle and flying down Main Street made all my anticipation a reality, and this is only the beginning. It still needs to get licensed but after that, I'll be out in the villages as much as time allows.
"The social values are right only if the individual values are right. The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there. Other people can talk about how to expand the destiny of mankind. I just want to talk about how to fix a motorcycle. I think that what I have to say has more lasting value."
-- Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Hurricane has passed

After expecting the worst and staying the night in the rectory, Hurricane Dean passed north of us and was no more that any other storm we get here on any other night. However it is just a preview for what we may face in the coming months. Anyway thanks for all the thoughts and concerns you all had. It was cool that Belize made the news, although all the new channels seemed to really cared about was Cancun and the possibility of it affecting the US. That was real comforting. Oh and its also quite interesting how the news stations loves glorifying the storm by encouraging people to send in their footage, hence encouraging people to attempt acquiring the footage and also having the news casters standing next to the sea with hair blowing about. Yeah it was interesting to say the least watching the US news portray the hurricane when I was watching it come towards me on the satellite. It reminded me of the Jack Johnson song that goes, "Why dont the newscasters care about people who die....".

Done with orientation

I have just completed the two week
orientation in Belize and will be beginning my work this week.
Over the past two weeks I have been able to learn about and experience
much of the diversity that Belize has, both in its people and in the
land.  I have visited a few of the Maya villages that I will be doing
my work in, one of which I stayed with a family for three days.  Last
week the other volunteers (six from Belize City and three in Punta
Gorda) and I put on a summer camp for the kids here in Punta Gorda.
The hot and sometimes overwhelming days ended sucessfully and fun was
had by all.  There was nothing to complain about at the end of the day
when we could walk across the road and jump into the Bay that looks
out the of Guatemala and Honduras.
   Now I am settling in and getting use to my home here in Punta Gorda
for the next two years.  The diversity in people and going by
motorcyle to Maya villages is an anthropolists dream come true.  In
Punta Gorda there are Creoles, Garifunas, Mayas, East Indians,
Mestizos, and a few white ex-pats and tourists.  Many of these ethnic
groups have mixed together making it difficult at times to identify
what ethnicity a person is.  But it doesn't matter all that much
because the people here really seem to get along and live together in
peace with limited racism and discrimination. It is a beautiful thing
that people can get along and live/work together despite
theirdifferent lineages and skin colors.  However the flip side to
that is many of the traditional cultures are losing there ways due to
all the mixing and the influence of the US.
  Anyway I am very excited to start working tomorrow and start getting
out on my motorcycle!
  Lets remeber all those being effected by Hurricane Dean right now
and all the other natural disasters in the world.  It is supposed to
just hit the north of Belize, but quite probabaly will change
direction. We will go more inland if it comes this way.

In Belize!

Hello! After two weeks of orientation in Maryland and one week of phase two orientation in Belize City, including a two day retreat at a riverside lodge, I arrived in Punta Gorda! And it is all its been played up to be and more. My house is right on the Honduran Bay where I can see Guatemala and Honduras off in the distance. Punta Gorda, with around 5,000 people, is composed on Mayans, Mestizos (Europe and Indian), Garifuna’s (African and Caribbean), Creoles (African and European), East Indians, Chinese, and some white priests and volunteers.
Tomorrow I will be going out to one of the Mayan villages to stay with a family for four days to orient myself with village life that I will soon be riding my motorcycle to and doing work in. Next week, the six Belize City Jesuit Volunteers will be coming down here and we will be running a three day summer camp for the children before school starts.
It is so amazing to finally be here and call this home for the next two years. My community members are really cool and we have a perfect location. My house isn’t the prettiest from the outside, but it has so much character and comfort on the inside and the location and view is priceless.